1. Clarify your positioning
Compare the audiences and problems each business names. Identify where your own offer is unclear or where a meaningful difference deserves explanation. A different claim only helps when your business can substantiate it.
2. Find unanswered customer questions
Review service pages and FAQs for useful questions that remain unresolved. Answer them from your own expertise and customer experience. More text alone does not make the answer better.
3. Improve the inquiry journey
Walk through public pages without submitting inquiries. Note whether scope, preparation and the next step are clear. Use confusing moments as prompts to inspect your own website.
4. Compare content themes
Record which subjects competitors cover and the apparent audience for each. An uncovered topic is a research lead, not proof of search demand. Validate whether your customers need the answer.
5. Study messages in context
Observe public campaign and social messages, noting the source and date. Visible activity does not reveal private cost, revenue or effectiveness. Use the message to develop questions about your own positioning rather than infer a winning tactic.
6. Prioritize a test
Choose one finding that connects to a current business problem. Describe the proposed change, the evidence behind it and how you will judge it. This makes the research useful without requiring a complete picture of a competitor’s business.
From reading to doing
Put it to work
Create a research note with four fields: observation and source, interpretation, uncertainty, proposed action. Example: a competitor explains onboarding clearly; inspect whether your own onboarding information answers the same customer questions. Use your own process and experience to write the answer.
- Observation and source
- What did you see, and where did you see it?
- Interpretation
- What might this mean for your business?
- Uncertainty
- What remains unclear or needs more evidence?
- Proposed action
- What specific change could you test?